Women's Basketball Heads North To Meet Gonzaga And Portland :: Dons Return to War Memorial Gym Next Week for Last Homestand

Feb. 13, 2008

USF TRAVELS TO GONZAGA AND PORTLAND THIS WEEK: San Francisco heads north to the Pacific Northwest for a Thursday game at Gonzaga and a Saturday game at Portland. Tip-off against the Bulldogs at McCarthey Athletic Center is set for 7:00 PM, while game time against the Pilots at the Chiles Center is set for 2:00 PM. The Dons finished week five of league play 0-1, falling to San Diego 67-48. Dominique Carter put up 16 points and seven rebounds, and Shay Rollins scored 11 with five assists.

GAME #24 - GONZAGA BULLDOGS

SCOUTING GONZAGA: The Bulldogs enter Thursday's game with USF with a 17-7 overall record and are 8-1 in conference play. In week five, Gonzaga suffered their first conference loss, 75-60 to Loyola Marymount on Thursday, but bounced back for a 92-85 win over Pepperdine on Saturday. The Dons fell to Gonzaga, 74-70 the Bulldogs earlier visit to the Hilltop (1/19/08). On the leaderboard for Gonzaga, sophomore forward Heather Bowman averages 19.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 1.0 apg. Junior guard Jami Bjorklund averagea 10.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 1.8 apg. Through 24 games, the Bulldogs average 76.7 points on .451 from the field, and a .714 (297-416) clip from the free-throw line. Kelly Graves is in his 8th year at the helm for the Bulldogs. He owns a 137-100 record at GU and is 203-126 for his 10 year career.

TEAM COMPARISONS - 2007-2008 SEASON (As of 2/13/08):
Team	PPG	Margin	FG%	3-FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	TOPG SPG	BPG
USF	68.5	+0.2	.420	.340	.720	38.6	13.9	17.16.2	1.7
GU	76.7	+9.3	.451	.338	.714	41.7	17.3	17.88.6	2.0

GU PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 2/13/08):
G.  21 Courtney Vandersloot, 5-8, Fr. (10.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 5.5 apg)
F.  30 Heather Bowman, 6-2, So. (19.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.2 spg)
G.  31 Michelle Elliott, 5-11, Sr. (10.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G.  32 Jami Bjorklund, 5-11, Jr. (10.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.8 apg)
F.  44 Vivian Frieson, 6-0, So. (9.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg)

2008 SERIES MEETINGS: Gon 74, at USF 70 (1/19/08)

SERIES RECORD/STREAK: USF leads 24-18/GU won three

BULLDOGS AND DONS - THE SERIES: GU holds a 12-8 advantage in games played in Spokane... The Bulldogs performed a three game sweep of the Dons in 2007, and the last time USF beat Gonzaga was in round one of the 2006 WCC Tournament (75-67)... Junior Necolia Simmons had a great game in the first meeting of these two teams this season, earning a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds... Junior Shay Rollins scored 11 in the loss and added five rebounds and three assists.

ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB: 
Radio Broadcast: KUSF 90.3	Television: None
Internet Audio: Yes - USFDons.com (Yahoo Broadcast)
GameTracker: Yes
Gonzaga Official Website: www.gozags.com

GAME #25 - PORTLAND PILOTS

SCOUTING PORTLAND: The Pilots enter week thirteen with a 14-10 overall record and are 4-5 in conference play. In WCC week five, Portland went 1-1, beating Pepperdine 84-83 in double overtime on Thursday, and falling to Loyola Marymount 64-51 on Saturday. The Pilots fell to USF, 65-51 in Portland's earlier visit to the Hilltop (1/17/08). On the leaderboard for Portland, sophomore guard Laiken Dollente averages 14.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 2.8 apg. Senior center Rachel Warren is second on the team in scoring, with 9.4 ppg and leads the Pilots with 6.5 rpg. Through 24 games, the Pilots average 71.2 points on .416 from the field, and a .753 (341-453) clip from the free-throw line. Jim Sollars is in his 22nd year at the helm for the Pilots. He owns a 299-328 record at Portland and is 476-410 for his 32 year career.

TEAM COMPARISONS - 2007-2008 SEASON (As of 2/13/08):
Team	PPG	Margin	FG%	3-FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	TOPG SPG	BPG
USF	68.5	+0.2	.420	.340	.720	38.6	13.9	17.1	6.2	1.7
POR	71.2	+4.0	.416	.302	.753	39.3	16.3	20.0	9.6	3.9

PORTLAND PROBABLE STARTERS (As of 2/13/08)
G.  10 Tara Cronin, 5-10, Fr. (5.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.5 apg)
G.  14 Laiken Dollente, 5-8, So. (14.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.8 spg)
F.  22 Karlie Burris, 5-11, Jr. (7.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.4 apg)
F.  32 Allyson Sievers, 6-2, Jr. (7.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 0.8 apg)
C.  50 Rachel Warren, 6-3, Sr. (9.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.6 bpg)

2008 SERIES MEETINGS: at USF 65, POR 51 (1/17/08)

SERIES RECORD/STREAK: USF leads 23-21/USF won one

PILOTS AND DONS - THE SERIES: Portland holds a 14-6 advantage in games played in Portland... In the first 2008 meeting of these two teams, senior Dominique Carter earned her fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds... Junior Necolia Simmons had a great game as well, scoring 20 points and adding six rebounds... Senior Nykia Peace scored eight points, nine rebounds and a team high six assists.

ON THE AIR/ON THE WEB: 
Radio Broadcast: KUSF 90.3	Television: None
Internet Audio: Yes - USFDons.com (Yahoo Broadcast)
GameTracker: Yes
Portland Official Website: www.portlandpilots.com

A LOOK AHEAD: The Dons return home after a three game road trip to host Bay Area rivals Saint Mary's (Thursday, 7:00 PM) and Santa Clara (Saturday, 7:00 PM)

CARTER CONTINUES ASSAULT ON CAREER SCORING CHART: A three-time West Coast Conference First Team selection, senior guard Dominique Carter enters Thursday against Gonzaga with 1,710 career points, good for second place on the USF career scoring list. The Tracy, CA native trails USF Hall-of-Famer Mary Hile (1977-81), who holds a comanding lead with 2,324 career points. In Conference charts, Carter surpassed Gonzaga's Ivy Safranski (1991-95/1,702) and Jessica Malone (1998-2002/1,703), and is now in a tie for fifth with Saint Mary's Anja Bordt (1988-91). She needs 33 points to pass Saint Mary's Cheree Tappin (1987-91/1,742). Carter is first in the league in scoring this season at 19.5 points per contest and is third in free-throw percentage (.829/58-70).